Ever since I was a little girl, I'm fond of mohair. Whenever my mum allowed me to pick a mohair pullover she couldn't have made me happier. The soft and fuzzy texture of the pullovers were just so luxurious. I realise that the pullovers of the 80's and 90's (bought over-over sized, heaven forbid someone should see me underneath) looked anything but elegant on me, but it did feel like that. And my love for mohair has stayed with me through the years. The fact that I've seen mohair yarns make a comeback over the last 18 months or so, has made my heart sing. But knitting and crocheting with mohair can prove to be a bit difficult. Theferore, I am sharing some advice on how to work with mohair yarn, and I am showing you some of my favorite knitting and crochet patterns using mohair.Over mohair
Mohair is een dierlijke vezel, afkomstig van angora geiten. Dit zijn natuurlijk erg zachte geiten! 100% mohair is zo zacht en fluffig dat er eigenlijk niet mee te werken valt, vandaar dat mohair garen altijd een combinatie met iets anders is. Zo zie je vaak mohair in combinatie met een zijden draadje of een synthetische vezel, zoals micro, polyamide of polyester. Dit zorgt ervoor dat er gemakkelijker met de mohair gebreid of gehaakt kan worden en het geeft de mohair een bepaalde structuur mee.

About mohairMohair is an animal fibre, made from angora goats. These must be the softest goats ever! 100% mihais is so soft, flufft and knotty that it would be impossible to work with. That's why you'll hardly ever encounter yarns that are 100% mohair, most maufacturers combine mohair with another fibre. The most used are a silk thread or something synthetic, like micro or polyester. After plying mohair and the other fibre, a yarn is created that is much easier to knit or crochet with.

Crochet or knit with mohairBecause of it's fluffy natre, knitting or crocheting using mohair can prove to be quite the challenge. When working with mohair you can feel like the material 'sticks' or 'knots' easily. And making a mistake in a mohair piece can prove to be very upsetting, as untangling mohair is very hard, if not impossible. Knitting with mohair is more forgiving that crocheting, in general.

Working with mohair, without the consDo you love the lush and luxurious looks of mohair? The softness? The gorgeous colours mohair is often dyed in? But are you afraid of knitting or crocheting with mohair? Don't worry. Just pick a yarn with a very small amount of mohair, for example 10% or 20% instead of the usual 60% or 70% mohair. Some fine examples are Scheepjes Stardust (11% mohair), Rowan Fine Art (20% mohair) or Lana Grossa Lace Pearls (18% and beads!!).

De mooiste breipatronen en haakpatronen met mohair

Beautiful knitting and crochet patterns using mohair

Over the last few months I have been collecting beautiful crochet patterns and (easy) knitting patterns, some of them are with mohair yarn only, others combine it with other yarn. I hope you'll like these patterns as much as I do.

This crochet shawl is called Ink Night, isn't it beautiful and mysterious? As you can see the pattern only uses simple crochet stitches, and you're using a 4.5 mm hook whilst working with lacey mohair. This shouldn't be too stressful.

If you're not very nifty with knitting needles (like me), these two patterns are still really doable. As they only use a knit stitch. Fairly easy, and fairly fast. I like it. The patterns for this beautiful top and the dreamy shawl are in Yarn, the sea issue by Scheepjes.

Have you guys met Tatiana? She blogs over at Lilla Björns Crochet World and designs the most amazing crochet and knitting patterns. This Blue Feather Sweater is a free knitting pattern (and she claims it's dead easy to make). The tutorial looks really good, I must say, with clear pictures and everything.

I start sweating even contemplating knitting a wrap like this. It's so crafty, fine and arty. Gorgeous. I bet real knitters wouldn't have any trouble with this pattern, at all. It's a gorgeous ripple scarf. And on Ravelry (where the knitting pattern is available) this scarf is rated with almost 5 stars, so that says it all.

Scheepjes has released yet another new booklet, isn't that exciting! Sarah has designed this beautiful triangular knitted shawl, that uses both mohair and alpaca yarn. And it doesn't seem that difficult to make, really. This booklet is available for just £1, you can order it here.

And of course, my Soft Shell Pashmina (check out the free crochet pattern for this pashmina). It is made with both mohair and alpaca yarn. The structure is lacey and fine, and it's just so warm and soft. A real luxurious treat if you decide it to make it for yourself or someone else. After working some rows with mohair you switch to alpaca so you can relax for a bit. There's a clear pattern repeat, so you will get into the rythm when working on this shawl, so it's unlikely you'll make any mistakes.

Hopefully you'll be less afraid of working with mohair. So maybe next time you're in a yarnshop you won't be so afraid to smuggle home a ball or two and try out a pattern. If you know of more lovely crochet or knitting patterns that use mohair yarn, please do let me know by dropping me a comment. I'd love to get to know more patterns soon!

Would you recommend or not recommend using this type of yarn for hats? I love the soft look of this yarn and think it would be beautiful as a light weight hat. But I have never worked with it and do not know how a hat would or would not hold up to use as a hat. Thank you!!!

I'm making a cardigan coat laceweight mohair and sportweight merino wool held double and it isn't hard to frog at all because the needle size is much larger (8mm). Knitting mohair at a large gauge is the key to ease in unraveling imo.